Having asked Joy on Diary of a (Retired) Teacher blog what her fitness routines are I thought I would tell you what mine are.
Each day I do 15 minutes of chair exercises. I follow Tom on his You Tube channel ElderFit. I started doing the exercises in September when I booked my holiday for later this year. This was the first time I had booked a holiday so far in advance and it fixed my mind into thinking that if I am to go I need to increase my fitness for walking and also I wanted exercises that I could do on the journey there as the flight is 6 hours. Although it is not a walking holiday each town and city we stop at involves a walking tour of anything from one hour to three hours. Also intermediate stops normally involve some walking to museums etc.
I do the chair exercises outside if possible as I feel more benefit if I am out in the fresh air. I have only had a couple of days where I have had to do them indoors and a few times on a chair in the garage although for the first month I did them all indoors. The exercises are easy to remember but I prefer to have Tom on his channel on my phone talking them through for the discipline of timings if nothing else. I often do the exercises whilst waiting for the train and have practiced doing some on the train imagining that I am on the aeroplane! Sounds like madness has set in in old age doesn't it!
After doing the exercises for two months I began to feel benefits so decided it was time to move forward and see more exercises and learn more about core muscles so I googled various things like 'how to get down to the floor and up again without props' and found lots on this and I now do the getting up and down from the floor exercise each day. I then decided that I wanted to sit on my heels again like I did when I was young which led me to the sitting on heels videos. I do this each day and see very small improvements to my quads although I sometimes wonder if I will ever get down to my heels again. I do not watch any specific video for the heels exercise as I learned straightaway that it is a question of improving quads and doing squats in order to improve the quad muscles in the upper leg.
(One thing I have learned is that core body and leg muscles are not improved by walking alone and that western doctors advice to walk is not necessarily going to help you enough. The 10,000 steps business is a random number and not needed. My average step total according to my phone is about 4000 when I go out for the day. This is fine).
Back to where I was in the paragraph before. This led me to Japanese exercises and the elderly which gave me bicycling in the air, legs against the wall and squats (yet more squats) and walking backwards to improve balance and brain power. I now do these each day. (The Japanese elderly do not walk far but they do the exercises).
I do not have any set times when I do the exercises and the 15 minutes with Tom in the chair exercises I often do while I am waiting for my tea to cook in the early evening dusk outside.
The floor exercises I sometimes do while watching television in the evening and the legs against the wall (laying on floor with legs up the wall in front of you) I do before bed as this is supposed to be good to aid sleeping.
So that is a boring run down of my exercises. I also have insurance for the holiday taken out in advance in case I have to cancel. My holidays are normally spur of the moment and involve not much more than a flight and a hotel and then finding a tour when I arrive. This time it is all a bit more organised and therefore a bit more expensive hence my fears about cancellation. The holiday insurance was not easy given my age and questions they ask and if you don't quite fit the normal of being an obedient person to your doctor like me. It is all easier if you can just tick the boxes as they want you to!
I am out this morning to see my oldest brother and his wife who want me to look at some paperwork with them. I have had to change my plans for the day but on balance I think it best if I go and see them. I am still tidying up for the valuer's visit tomorrow and have been going room to room with the hoover and the duster! More of that this afternoon. I am also finding somewhere new to have my car MOT'd and serviced following the abrupt closure of the Citroen dealer in Norwich with no warning or assistance offered. I am ringing round and waiting for calls back. All things to keep me occupied but things I could do without.
Sorry about such a boring post.
Not a boring post at all. Life admin as my son calls it. I enjoyed reading about your exercises. I keep meaning to do the legs up the wall one but don't have much wall space! The findings of the valuers visit tomorrow will be interesting. Consider advertising for a young, handsome, live-in carer that can be your masseuse, chauffer, gardener, cook, pet sitter etc., Yes. I am saying that tongue in cheek but it could resolve the issue of not wanting to move house! x
ReplyDeleteThe video said you can do legs up a door if you haven't got much wall space! I think on the subject of moving house, the day will present itself to me when I know it is the right thing to do. Hopefully sooner rather than later while I am still able and compos mentis! xx
DeleteI have just taken a quick look at ElderFit and think I would like to follow some of his routines too. Thank you so much for the recommendation.
ReplyDeleteI like Tom on Elderfit because he just talks with encouragement and simple explanations and gets on with it. Some video channels I looked at have very long-winded explanations which were a bit of a turn off. xx
DeleteNot boring at all. I enjoy reading about how others keep their fitness levels good. I go for around 5000 steps a d ay but don't worry if I don't hit them. I must look Tom up - it sounds interesting, thank you. xx
ReplyDeleteThanks Joy for popping over here for a read. As I said to JayCee above, I like Tom and Elderfit because their videos are clear and to the point, no time wasted. xx
DeleteI've just looked at those Elder Fit routines. He's good . More enjoyable U think than just doing it by myself.
ReplyDeleteI'm not getting down on the floor just yet though.
I try the walking backwards. Very good for halance
Doing them with the video running on my phone ensures that I do them for the full time and not cut short. I have an incentive with the holiday too not to let this go now.
DeleteIt is very good that you, unlike many people I know, take full responsibility for your health. You're not waiting for someone to give you pills, but you take action. And it is good to see how your regular exercises have steadily been improving your fitness.
ReplyDeleteThe 10,000-step recommendation for me goes along the lines of the 2 litres of water a day recommendation. Such "one size fits all" generalisations should always come with the information that health is an entirely individual state - what suits one person, who will really benefit from 10,000 steps and 2 litres of water every day, is not necessary the right thing for another.
Good idea to take insurance for your holiday. I never did that until a few years ago, when due to our Dad's health problems, my sister and I had to cancel our booked and paid holiday in Ripon. With our Mum now being in her 80s, we have been taking insurance for our Yorkshire trip every year since. Of course something could happen to one of us, too, but it is first and foremost our Mum we're thinking of.
This is not a boring post Rachel, I am very interested in the training routine because I am also involved in it. I learned from you about walking backwards and I have adapted it to my exercises.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I ask the GPT chat what he thinks of me when I tell him about my training routine just to read his compliments.. I also jump about ten times to a low height, and that is what he admires the most.... Of course I also add running to the shelter, about fifty meters, there is a break in this but it seems not for long. It has undoubtedly also contributed to excellent physical fitness.
I also read a lot about the blue zones of the world, and try to adopt as much as possible some of the lifestyle and tips there for longevity. (Which is something a little strange to expect in our reality here, but I try to remain optimistic).
Yael, good morning. Coincidentally I have been watching the Secrets of the Blue Zone on Netflix again - I first watched it last year I believe. The elderly Japanese on the island particularly interest me and encourage me to do the squats and sitting on the floor instead of a chair. Your training sounds very good, I have not tried the jumping and am not sure if I am ready for this yet although I have used a skipping rope in recent years so perhaps I will give that a try again. Of course you have an incentive to remain physically fit for self-preservation in the dangerous part of the world that you live.
ReplyDeleteMeike, good morning to you too. Blogger is only letting me reply to comments in this way today.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment, and yes, I prefer to take my fitness into my own hands and not rely on doctors here who are very keen to hand out pills for certain things that I think I can improve with exercise, and less keen to test for vitamin deficiencies. I am pleased to see that a London hospital is now undertaking a Vitamin D trial because it is becoming more and more apparent that deficiencies are becoming a serious problem in this country.
Travel insurance has always been part of my holiday preparation but as I am now older and more vulnerable to illness (possibly) the questions and answers given to travel insurers need to be given a great deal of attention. A local man recently went to India and was taken ill whilst there and his travel insurance refused to pay his claim for medical care because on checking with his doctor they judged that he had not answered all their questions honestly. This was an easily made error in that he had failed to mention advice given by his doctor which he had considered but not taken. I have made sure that my travel insurers were aware of conversations I had with my doctor. This cost me extra on my premium but hopefully it will ensure I am covered for all eventualities.